Chapter 16
‘We don’t tell him,’ says Tony Taylor.
‘It’s been a whole day. He’ll be wondering where you’ve got to,’ says Felicity. Tony is being stubborn. ‘We have to.’
‘“Have to” is a very long word,’ says Tony.
‘Tony,’ says Felicity. ‘It’s two words and neither of them is long.’
Tony is propped up on his hospital bed, a large bandage wrapped around his head and a drip feeding his arm.
‘It’s ridiculous,’ he says. ‘I’m fine. He didn’t even hit me that hard.’
‘Concussion is very serious,’ says Felicity. ‘I once had a client with concussion and he vomited on BBC Breakfast.’
Felicity has been beside Tony’s bed for the last twenty-four hours. He was never in serious danger, but the thought of his fragility upsets her greatly. The thought that he might somehow not be permanent. And Felicity has done enough Facebook quizzes about love to know what this all signifies.
She has cried, but only while he was asleep. Tony is very sensitive to the moods of people around him.
‘He’ll worry though,’ says Tony. ‘You know Steve.’
‘He should worry,’ says Felicity. ‘That man could have killed you. He might kill Steve.’
‘But Steve would want to visit me,’ says Tony. ‘And I’m not allowed two visitors at once.’
‘I can stand in the corridor,’ says Felicity.
‘I don’t like the idea of that,’ says Tony. ‘Corridor? No.’
‘Then I can go and get a hot chocolate,’ says Felicity.
Tony shakes his head. ‘The Friends of Southampton General Hospital café closes at 4.30.’
Tony knows when everything opens and when everything closes. Everything.
‘I’ll get one from the machine, then,’ she says.
‘Someone’s made of money,’ says Tony.
Felicity isn’t going to lose this man just as she has found him.
She won’t let the universe do that to her.
If this Jakob Eriksson wants to shoot a bodyguard in the head, all well and good, these things happen, but if Jakob Eriksson wants to come after Tony Taylor, woe betide the man. She knows Steve will feel the same.
‘You have to warn Steve about this man Jakob Eriksson,’ says Felicity. ‘And Steve has to make sure we don’t get another visit. If you don’t do it, I will.’
‘I don’t know,’ says Tony. ‘I don’t know. I’d sooner just forget about it.’
‘What’s really worrying you?’ Felicity asks. Tony will eventually do the right thing, but it will take a while. He’s like a shy horse in that regard. ‘About Steve coming to the hospital?’
‘What’s really worrying me,’ says Tony, ‘is the hospital parking charges, ￡4.50 for an hour. And another ￡4.50 if you even go a minute over.’
Felicity nods. ‘That’s worrying you more than your life being in danger?’
‘Well, not more, exactly,’ says Tony. ‘But the same. It’d be nine quid for sixty-one minutes. Worst-case scenario.’
‘What if I tell Steve he can park in the Asda car park next door?’
‘After five?’ says Tony. ‘You know it’s not patrolled? You might as well stick a “Steal Me” sign on the windscreen.’
Felicity would like to put this entire conversation down to concussion, but she knows better.
Somewhere Tony knows that he has to tell his best friend what has happened, but he will do anything not to.
To not be a burden, to not bear bad news, to not have an adult conversation about a meaningful event.
If Tony had seen a dog with three legs, or if someone from the village had bought an electric car, he would be straight on the phone to Steve.
But a blond man half killing him as a warning?
That’s not the sort of thing Tony and Steve like to talk about.
Felicity supposes she can understand that.
When you think of all the conversations that men have had with each other over the years, you can see why some of them choose to tread carefully.
Felicity picks up Tony’s phone. ‘What if I ring him?’
‘He’ll be busy,’ says Tony.
‘Yes, busy solving a murder,’ says Felicity. ‘The first murder this company has ever had. What just happened to us – to you – is important. I think that Steve would …’
Felicity hesitates. Time to bring out the big guns.
‘… I think Steve would be disappointed if you didn’t tell him.’
‘Disappointed?’ says Tony.
Felicity nods.
‘In me?’
Felicity nods again, then leans over and kisses him.
‘He’ll be wondering why he hasn’t heard from you anyway.’
Tony nods. ‘You have to tell me everything he says though.’
Felicity scrolls through to find Steve’s number but no luck.
‘I can’t find his name, my love?’
‘He’s under “King Steve the First”.’
Of course he is. ‘What are you in his phone?’
‘No idea,’ says Tony. ‘Probably Tony Taylor.’
Felicity dials ‘King Steve the First’ and prepares to tell him that his best friend is in hospital, that a man called Jakob Eriksson is attempting to stop them investigating, and, because she knows Steve will ask, that the hospital parking is ￡4.50 an hour and for any part-hour thereafter.